Forgiveness
by milesprower06
Summary: In the aftermath of Operation Doodlebug, Janyu tries to make ammends with his son, while an extremely bitter Henry comes to realize that sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons.
1. Off

FORGIVENESS

By milesprower06

Chapter 1 – 'Off'

Janyu Wong sat at his desk inside the Hypnos offices. He continued to sift through and categorize the seemingly endless amounts of data they had received during the D-Reaper crisis.

'Certainly nothing better to do…'

He was finding it difficult to concentrate on his work today. Hell, it had been hard to focus all week. He was still coming to terms with what they had to do…

"Hey, Janyu. Coffee break?" someone said from behind him. Janyu didn't need to turn to see who it was – he only interacted with about five people on a daily basis.

"Maybe in a bit, Shibumi. I'm in the middle of something." he replied.

"We've all been in the middle of something for the past week. Come on, Janyu, one breather isn't going to kill you. I'd like to talk."

Janyu gave in, and nodded. He swiveled his chair around and got up.

"I guess I could use a break."

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Janyu sipped at his cup of coffee as he stared out the glass wall of the employee lounge at the cityscape that was downtown Shinjuku. Shibumi came up next to him, having just gotten his drink.

"You said you wanted to talk?" Janyu asked his colleague.

"Yeah. You seem to be a bit off today, Janyu."

"I've been 'off' all week, Shibumi."

"Is what happened last week still on your mind?"

"I'd be worried if it wasn't."

"It's what we had to do, Janyu."

"Yeah. Maybe the blow wouldn't be so hard…if what we 'had to do' didn't destroy my relationship with my son."

"He'll come to understand that –"

"No," Janyu interrupted.

"Maybe you don't understand. He hasn't spoken to me since it happened. He won't look at me; he won't acknowledge me at all…and I don't blame him."

"I sympathize with you completely, Janyu. But that doesn't change the fact that it was necessary."

Janyu stared into his coffee cup, and took a deep breath.

"I don't care how necessary it was," he said, looking Shibumi directly in the eyes.

"What we did was wrong."


	2. Beyond

FORGIVENESS

By milesprower06

Chapter 2 – Beyond

Janyu walked through downtown Shinjuku; the sky a dull orange as the sun began to dip below the horizon. As a computer programmer, he was good at working through problems, making things click. But he couldn't fix this problem…

_"You knew this would happen when you scanned Terriermon, didn't you?"_

_"I know it hurts now, son, but it'll get better."_

That was a week ago. Henry hadn't spoken to him since. The way he looked…tears streaming down his face, slowly shaking his head at his father. That image had been burned into his mind for the past week, and it wouldn't leave him.

He couldn't change what he had done. He had broken his son's heart; tore him away from one of the closest companions he would ever have. Not just him; but his daughter, and the rest of the Tamers, too. Shibumi was right; in that it had been necessary – without the modified Juggernaut program they had uploaded into the D-Arcs, the Tamers wouldn't have won the final battle against the D-Reaper. But that didn't make it right. They had done the wrong thing for the right reason.

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He stepped off the elevator on the sixth floor, and walked down the hall to F214. He slid his key in the door, opened it, and stepped inside his home. He hung his jacket up at the door and set his suitcase down. His wife came to the door and greeted him home.

"How was your day, hon?" she asked.

"It never ends."

Janyu glanced down the hall at Henry's closed bedroom door.

"He's home." she said.

Janyu had barely seen his son since what had happened a week ago. Henry was always in his room when he was home. Janyu hadn't gotten up the courage to go to his door yet.

"Dinner's on the stove, simmering." she said to him. He thanked his wife, and slowly walked to Henry's bedroom door. He brought his hand up, prepared to knock…

And paused.

What would he say? Sorry? He had already said that, days ago, and he was still confident that what they had done was beyond forgiveness. He lowered his arm and continued to the kitchen. Being home made him realize it had been a tougher day than he thought, and he returned for a second helping.

As he ate, he continued to think over recent events. What he would give to have his son make eye contact with him…talk to him…

An idea dawned on him. Henry wouldn't talk to him, not yet, but maybe someone else, someone who completely understood what he was going through. He got up and went to the phone, and dialed a number.

"Matsuki Bakery" a woman answered.

"Hello, Mei? It's Janyu Wong. Is Takato home?"


	3. We Didn't Ask For This Job

FORGIVENESS

By milesprower06

Chapter 3 – We Didn't Ask For This Job

SHINJUKU JUNIOR HIGH

12:35 PM

Henry Wong sat in the school cafeteria, poking at the food on his tray. He hadn't eaten as nearly as much as he usually did, but he didn't feel as hungry recently. The past week had been hard on him…

He had never felt so alone, so…betrayed. His mind was a house of mirrors right now; this single train of thought reflecting, repeating. It was all he thought about.

"Hey there, Henry." Takato said, sitting down across from him with his own tray of food.

"How are ya feeling?" he asked.

"Don't bother, Takato," Henry began. "My dad apparently thinks I can't hear him from one room away."

_MATSUKI BAKERY / RESIDENCE_

_LAST NIGHT_

_Takato came down from his room, after his mom said that Henry's dad was on the phone for him. He came into the kitchen and took the phone from his mom._

_"Mr. Wong?"_

_"Hello, Takato. How have you been?"_

_"Okay, I guess. What can I do for you?"_

_"Actually, I was wondering if you could perhaps tell me how Henry's doing."_

_Takato paused for a few seconds._

_"I can't say for sure, Mr. Wong. He's been...rather distant since last week. I mean, I see him in the halls daily, but outside of school, we don't really keep in touch. What happened must have hit him hard."_

_"Takato...I...don't know what to say. I'm somewhat surprised you're even talking to me."_

_"Mr. Wong, I'm not Henry, and I'm certainly not holding anything against you. I don't like it, but I understand that it's what had to be done, and for obvious reasons, you couldn't tell us. Maybe Henry's trying to still come to terms with that. I could talk to him, if you like."_

_"Thank you, Takato. You don't know how much that would mean to me."_

SHINJUKU JUNIOR HIGH

12:36 PM

"Yes, Henry, your dad called me last night. He's obviously worried about you."

"He should've been worried about me back when he was hatching that plan for the D-Reaper battle."

"Henry-"

"He didn't even tell us. He didn't warn us – he just let it happen."

Takato leaned forward slightly.

"Do you think that he doesn't feel sorry for what they did? You saw him at the park last week – how he looked. It's what they had to do."

"If they had to do it, if it was their only option, why didn't they tell us?"

"Do you honestly think for one moment that if we knew what that red card would do afterwards, that any of us would have gone through with it? Knowing what it would mean for our partners? They couldn't tell us, Henry, and deep down, you know that."

Henry angrily got up from his seat and walked out of the cafeteria without a word, leaving his tray and Takato at the table.

_'A lot of good that did...' Takato thought to himself._

From Takato's viewpoint, it was a bit odd. Henry didn't strike him as the person who would have trouble dealing with this. He would think it over, and talk to him after school.

3:30 PM

Henry walked out of the school, past the soccer field. He was about to walk through the gate when he heard Takato come up behind him out of the bustle of students.

"I want to talk to you some more, Henry."

"There's nothing to say, Takato."

"Alright, Henry. You don't want me to say anything to your dad? Fine, I won't, if that's what you really want. But I'm your friend, and I still want to talk to you. I'm not about to leave you alone until I'm sure you're alright."

Henry sighed, finally giving in. He turned around and walked through the side gate, leaving the school grounds, Takato at his side.

"Did I ever tell you how Terriermon became my partner?" Henry asked.

"Uh, no."

"My dad had gotten me the new Digimon game for Christmas two years ago. Once I had it up and running, I selected Terriermon as my Digimon. I did it because I guess I wanted a challenge."

"So he came from the game?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that…"

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He had a variety of Digimon to choose from, and all those he didn't choose became wild Digimon in the game's overworld. One of them, Gorillamon, soon became a problem…

"He's absorbing their data! Gorillamon, stop it!"

Of course, at that point in time, he hadn't known that data absorption was one of the ways a Digimon became stronger.

"Terriermon, look out!"

His in-game partner narrowly dodged a blast from Gorillamon's Energy Cannon.

"He's totally out of control. How's Terriermon supposed to beat him? He's too small."

He considered his options.

"What should I do? Modify Cards. Terriermon, it's time to make you faster. Speed Activate. Digi-Modify!. I better give you some more strength, you're gonna need it. Power Activate. Digi-Modify!"

Terriermon connected with a direct headbutt, knocking Gorillamon to the ground.

"Way to use your head, Terriermon, he's down for the count. Alright, time to sharpen up that aim of yours. Targeting Activate. Digi-Modify!"

"Bunny Blast!" Terriermon sent a hail of green glowing energy pellets at his enemy.

"We're almost there. All you need is a little more energy to finish him off. Stamina Activate. Digi-Modify!"

D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N

"Terriermon digivolve to…Gargomon!"

"He digivolved! Did I do that?" Henry asked.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon called out his attack, leveling his chaingun arms at Gorillamon and opening fire.

Gorillamon, being pelted by Gargomon's attack, began to retreat.

"That's it, yeah!" Henry yelled triumphantly.

But Gargomon continued the pursuit.

"Gargomon, what are you doing. You've already beaten him, just let him go." he said, to no avail.

"You're just like all the rest of them. It's like I don't even know who you are anymore."

He went to go talk to his dad about what happened in the game.

"You see, when a Digimon beats an opponent in battle. they absorb the loser's data. That's just one of the ways they become more powerful. It's just how the program works. Son, I think you're taking all this a little too seriously. Digimon can't actually get hurt because they don't really exist. It's a game."

"Yeah…they're just a bunch of zeroes and ones, right?"

He continued playing the game under this new assumption.

"Digimon don't exist, it's only a game. It doesn't matter if they get hurt because they're not real."

But it still didn't feel right. He looked at his exhausted partner on the screen.

"But look at him. It does matter…Terriermon I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." he dropped his cards and wiped the tears from his eyes. He spotted a card on his desk – one he didn't remember having.

"What's this blue card? Terriermon, hang on. Digi-Modify!" he swiped the card through his card reader, which began to glow a brilliant white, and changed shape. The glow dimmed, and revealed a Digivice. It was sort of like the ones from the TV series, but designed differently.

"A Digivice? But how?"

Terriermon onscreen began to glow along with the Digivice's screen. A portal ripped open in mid-air directly in front of the computer monitor. Terriermon was sucked through and fell into Henry's arms.

"You're real…and look what I've done to you…"

'And those other Digimon in the game…I hurt them too…' he realized, starting to cry. Tears fell on Terriermon's head, and he looked up.

"Excuse me – do you mind? That stuff's kinda cold."

"Terriermon…I'm so sorry…"

"What for?"

"I'll never make you fight again."

Henry knelt in front of his bed, and continued to break down.

"Hey. Don't cry. I'm fine, see?"

"Momentai…"

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"So that's why you didn't want him to fight." Takato said, catching on has Henry finished telling the story.

"And now he's out there all alone again, and I can't do anything to help him."

A look of sadness and helplessness took over Henry's face. Takato put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Tell you what, Henry. Come on over to my house for the night. I can give you dinner and a place to sleep."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'd love to have you over, and maybe you need a change of atmosphere for a night."

Henry gave his friend a slight smile.

"Thanks, Takato."

"No problem."

Takato figured that maybe all Henry needed was just a night away from home; some time to think everything over.

He's find out tonight…


	4. The Starving Artist

FORGIVENESS

By milesprower06

Chapter 4 – The Starving Artist

They went to the nearest payphone, where Henry called his mom, and told her where he'd be.

"Alright. Have a good time, hon. Call me if you need anything." she said.

"Don't worry about me, mom. I'll be fine. Bye."

They made the trip to the Matsuki Bakery silently, last week's events still weighing heavy on Henry's shoulders.

There wasn't much of an after-school rush at the bakery.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Takato greeted as they came through the side entrance, removing their shoes. On their way towards the stairs, they found Takato's parents, Takahiro and Mei Matsuki, in the kitchen.

"Hey there, kiddo. How was school?" Takahiro asked.

"Okay, I guess. Henry's gonna spend the night. Hope that's alright." Takato said.

"That's fine, since it's Friday." Mei replied.

Henry gave a polite bow.

"Thank you for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Matsuki."

"No problem. We're happy to have you, Henry." Mei said. Usually, she'd want a day's notice from Takato is one of his friends was coming over, but due to recent events, she let it slide. She, too, know how hard it had hit Henry.

"Go on upstairs. We'll call you when dinner's ready."

"Okay. Thanks, mom" Takato replied as he and Henry went up to his room.

Upon entering, Takato tossed his backpack onto the floor next to his desk. Henry dropped his bag in a gentler manner, but nonetheless wanted the weight off his shoulders, as well.

Henry noticed Takato's goggles hanging on his chair, and his D-Arc was resting in the back corner of his desk. The surface was shuffled with various papers and writing and drawing utensils, and on top of everything, was an unfinished drawing of Guilmon.

"How can you not worry about him?" Henry asked, gazing down at the drawing. Takato came over to the desk.

"I thought the drawings were obvious that I do worry about him." Takato asked. He moved the piece of paper aside, revealing many more sketches of his partner.

"Whenever I start to worry, I just start drawing. As it comes together, I just know, deep down, that he's okay, and that if he has to fight out there, he's fighting so we can be together again."

"And that helps you?"

"Yeah."

Henry just stared at his friend's drawings.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't help me."

"How do you know?" Takato asked. He picked up an assortment of colored pencils, a few blank sheets of paper, and offered them to Henry.

"You never know until you try."

"I've really never been an artist, though."

"You don't have to be. Mine aren't exactly masterpieces, but they help. Just try it."

Henry accepted the art supplies, and took a seat on the floor.

"Where do I start? How do I start?" he asked. Takato sat down in front of him.

"How do you rest; find your center?"

"Usually, I meditate." Henry said.

"Alright, start there."

Henry shifted slightly, and closed his eyes.

"Alright. Think of Terriermon. What's the first thing that comes to your mind?"

"His ears." Henry responded, slowing his breathing.

"Alright. When you're ready, open your eyes, and start drawing his ears. Those long and floppy ears of his." Takato chuckled.

A minute later, Henry opened his eyes, and picked up a black pencil, and began tracing a line on the piece of paper, curving slightly, and eventually, Takato recognized it as the beginning of Terriermon's left ear. Slowly, Henry's sketch came to life; both of his ears, his forehead, his stubby arms and legs, and that small, cute smile.

"Do you feel better?"

Henry took another, long look at his work, and slowly nodded.

"Yeah, little bit."

Takato smiled. He looked at the clock on his desk. Two hours had passed since Henry had begun. He looked at Henry's drawing.

"Not bad. Not bad at all."

"Takato! Henry! Dinner's ready!" Mei called from downstairs.

"Alright, let's go eat. It smells pretty good, even from up here."

MATSUKI BAKERY

10:25 PM

Henry lay on the floor, in a sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep in the past week, and he had his doubts that tonight was going to be any different. He took Takato's advice again. He relaxed, closed his eyes, found his center, and before he knew it, he was dreaming…

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He was in a desert. It was a sandstorm – hot wind, sand blowing every which way. The dunes seemed to stretch on forever. He thought he saw something through the blowing sand…a silhouette…a…

"T-Terriermon?" he asked.

He fought against the hot wind and sand, and slowly made his way closer to his partner. Then, something else came into view…a shape he recognized all too well.

"Gorillamon…" Henry gasped. He tried to run to Terriermon, but couldn't. His ankles were sinking in quicksand. Terriermon lay exhausted on the ground. He slowly lifted his head and looked at his Tamer.

"Henry…"

"Terriermon, hold on, I'm coming!"

But the more he struggled, the more he sank. Soon, it was up to his waist, but still he didn't give up. He sank deeper…deeper.

Gorillamon charged the small rabbit.

"Terriermon look out!"

Gorillamon came closer to his downed partner, and the last thing Henry saw before completely sinking in the sand was an energy blast surging towards his partner…

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Terriermon!!!" Henry yelled out, bolting up out of his sleep. Takato was kneeling next to him, obviously stirred by his nightmare several moments earlier.

"You okay?" Takato whispered to him.

Henry was shaking. It was tearing him apart…not knowing whether or not Terriermon was okay. There was no way of knowing. He felt so helpless. A shiver ran down his spine, and he burst into tears. He leaned into his friend and fellow Tamer, who did his best to comfort him, embracing him as he let it all out.

"Everything's going to be alright." Takato whispered to him.

Though they were aimed to be words of comfort, they brought no such thing. They were a lie. There was no way he could know that. There was no way anyone could know…

And so he cried.


	5. Forgiveness

FORGIVENESS

By milesprower06

Chapter 5 – Forgiveness

Henry stood on Takato's small patio outside his room, staring at the horizon, as the sun rose and marked a new day. The crisp morning breeze blew at his hair, and woke him up a little, since he had not gotten back to sleep after his nightmare hours earlier. Takato was still sound asleep, after Henry had insisted he go back to bed after several minutes of trying to comfort him.

He thought back to last week; all of them standing in front of the digital gate. It was such a beautiful day. They had done the impossible; they had finally defeated the enemy that had been pushing them back and back for weeks.

But the victory quickly felt so hollow…when it was revealed what victory had cost them. His partner's last words to him before parting…

"Momentai…"

He hadn't taken it easy. Not easy at all. What his father and the rest of the Monster Makers had done had hit him so hard. He hadn't spoken a word to his dad, and barely a word to anyone, since then. But now they thought about it differently. Takato was indeed correct. Had he, or any of them known what the Red Card would do in the end, they wouldn't have gone through with it. He knew for sure he wouldn't have. He would have allowed the D-Reaper to win; he would have let the world die to keep Terriermon. He wasn't a selfish person – their bond was just that strong.

He remembered how his father looked that day…fallen to his knees, in tears with the rest of them. He was just as upset. He had tried to apologize numerous times to him. Henry just shook his head at him…not believing what they had just done. But it's not like they wanted to do it! It was…it was just…necessary…what they HAD to do.

The wrong thing for the right reason.

He just now realized this. Yet he had belittled his dad, given him the silent treatment, for something he didn't want to have to do.

Without another thought, Henry ran back into Takato's room, grabbed his backpack, and ran out of the room, down the stairs, and out the side door, running as fast as his feet would carry him back to his apartment. He couldn't let another day go by with his dad thinking that his son hated him. He had to get there before he left for work. He felt an energy deep within his heart feed energy to his sprinting legs. A warm, comforting energy.

Terriermon…

He caught all the crosswalks green, zoomed through downtown Shinjuku, ran to his apartment complex, shoved the doors to the lobby open, and pounded on the elevator button, but it was stopping at nearly every floor. He ran to the stairway, and bolted up seven flights of stairs.

_'Please be there, Dad…please…please…'_

His heart beat faster, from exhaustion and anticipation.

He flew through the door to his floor, and came to a halt.

His dad was there, waiting at the elevator. He immediately turned to see what the noise was.

"Henry?" he asked.

Henry's chest and shoulders heaved, he breathed heavily, finally catching his breath.

He slowly walked forward a few steps, but his legs were about to give out, they started to shake, and he stopped. His father walked toward him.

"Henry, are you alright?" he asked. He set his suitcase down and stood in front of his son.

Henry looked at his dad, and tears began to prick his eyes.

"Dad, I…I…"

He burst into a sob, falling into his father, wrapping his arms around him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Dad. I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" he said, lost in his words and his grief.

His father returned the embrace, somewhat in shock that his son had spoken to him. Even apologized…

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, son. Nothing."

"No, Dad. You're wrong. It's what you had to do, and I was angry anyway, I hated you for it…and I shouldn't have…"

"You had every right to be angry, Henry. You had every right to hate me. Just because we had to do it, that didn't make it right. But everything's going to be alright."

Henry looked up at his dad, and for the first time in what seemed like ages, in reality only a week, he smiled.

"Yeah…I know."

FIN

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A/N: Not much to it, I know, just something I thought up a few weeks back. Hope you enjoyed. Later.


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